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Wednesday, 23 April 2014

I have spent almost three
months now in Berlin preparing my next trips and I have had a fabulous time thanks to friends whose
apartment I could sublet while they were away hiking themselves. An
entire apartment for me alone – what a luxury after 8 months in a
tent. I tremendously enjoyed sleeping in a real bed again and having
a fully equipped kitchen. Not to mention fast and reliable wifi which
was essential for my trip planning.

After my long 5-months
winter hike through Southern Europe I will take a break from hiking
for the rest of this year. As I am usually alternating between
hiking, cycling and paddling to avoid physical (and mental) wear and
tear 2014 will be a year of cycling and paddling.

It was very easy to
determine my cycling destination for 2014. Last year I have done a
bike through Scandinavia that I have enjoyed tremendously. In fact I
have enjoyed it so much that I completed only half of my planned
route because I did not want to rush. So now it is time to do the
second half. Therefore I will head north again, but this time
NorthEast. Again I will start directly in Berlin at the place I am
staying at right now. From Berlin I will then cycle through Poland to
the Baltic States, which will be the first focus of this trip. I plan
to spend at least one month in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia doing
extensive sightseeing. Then I will take the ferry from Tallinn to
Helsinki: Finnland will be the second focus of this trip. Last year I
had only briefly cycled through Finland from Vaasa to Helsinki but
this year I am planning to do a big loop around Finland including the
Baltic Sea coast from Helsinki to Oulu on one side and Karelia along
the Finnish-Russian border and the other side. A highlight of this
Finnish loop will be an excursion to the Aland Islands.

Although I have downloaded
various gpx tracks of bike trails I am planning to use it makes no sense
posting a route map now. Other than while hiking I usually don't
adhere to planned routes while cycling. There are so many options and
places to visit that I usually decide on the spur of the moment (and
depending on the weather) on which route to take.

Like last year I am
planning on cycling at a rather leisurely pace. I know from previous
bike trips that I could easily do 100 km + per day, but I found it to
be much more relaxing to do only around 80 – 90 km per day which
leaves plenty of time for sightseeing, berry picking and just plainly
dinking around.

When I had finished the
bike trip planning I was surprised that it had turned out to be much
longer than expected: Strictly adhering to bike routes without any
side trips the whole general route is already around 7,500 km long.
That meant one problem: I either had to pedal faster and/or shorten
the route – or I would not be able to start the ensuing paddling
trip down the Danube in time. But I have learnt one thing during my
past trips: Try to avoid time pressure! Another factor was also
threatening a „thrupaddle“ of the Danube: The political situation
in the Ukraine.

So all of a sudden my
leisurely trip planning turned difficult: I needed a quick
alternative plan for the Danube. I was now looking for a 6 – 8
weeks paddling trip in Europe that could still be done in September
and October without completely freezing my butt off. I received a lot
of help from members of outdoor forums who came up with various great
ideas. My desk was cluttered with dozens of maps and guidebooks from
the library and I spent hours in front of the computer researching
the various ideas.

In the end the perfect
alternative plan came up: a paddling trip across Southern Sweden. It
seems ideal because it is easy to get there from Germany, there is a
lot of information out on the internet (and a lot of very helpful
people giving me information on internet forums) and it is a very
varied trip: My planned route includes the lake districts of Dalsland
and Glaskogen, the huge inland lakes of Vänern and Vättern, some
canal paddling and lock portaging on the Göta Canal and last but not
least some first attempts in sea kaying in the skerry gardens of
Eastern Sweden. As there are so many different options the trip can
be as long or as short as I (or the weather) likes it to be. The only problem could be cold weather in fall.

So 2014 will be a
Scandinavian year.... I will probably start cycling around May 5th
– so soon there will be trip posts again. And if anyone of you
lives in the Baltic States, Finland or Southern Sweden, please let me
know. I always enjoy meeting people for a chat or maybe even an
overnight stay along the route.

Saturday, 19 April 2014

The photos on this blog are almost all taken with my
smartphone camera. None of them are photoshopped. I am not a great
photographer and I don't try to be one. I just point and shoot. (Most
of my pictures are actually taken when one of my audiobooks has just
ended. Because I have to take out my smartphone then anyway I
usually look around and take a picture of what I see right then.) I am
asked very often why I don't try to improve the quality of my photos.
There are a lot of reasons for that. It is not only for lack of
talent or interest, for me this is also an almost „philosophical“
question. Here are my thoughts on that topic:

I am an ultralighter: In the ultralight
hiking scene you get almost dissed if you don't cut the handle off
your tooth brush.- but no one will give you grief for carrying around
2 kg of camera equipment. Taking spectacular pictures has become so
important that a decent camera is considered an absolute necessity. I
think this attitude is hypocrite. Ultralight is not only about
counting grams it is also an attitude. Always deliberate if you
really need an item – and as I am a hiker and not a professional
photographer I don't really need a great camera. The ultralight
attitude also means that everything should be multifunctional. A
camera isn't – and this is why I conly carry a smartphone which is
one of my most versatile pieces of equipment: It is my MP3-player for
listening to audiobook, my internet access, my backup GPS, my
telephone – and my camera.

I am a thruhiker: As a thruhiker,
hiking (or cycling and paddling) is my main focus. This is what I
concentrate on. I don't want to be distracted from that. And
photographing would distract me. I don't want to deal with finding
the right angle or best lighting for a picture. I don't want to stop
every five minutes because I see another interesting motif. I don't
want to deal with tripods, zooms and chargers. Things are different
if you are a professional photographer. Your focus is different. You
hike because you want to take pictures – hiking becomes just a
means to achieve your goal of taking great picture. That is fine and
I absolutely respect that hobby. But the more you become a
photographer, the less you are a thruhiker.

I want to show how it is: I just
recently had a very enlightening encounter. A hiker friend showed me
photos of his hike in Southwest USA, an area where I have hiked in
extensively myself. But his pictures looked very differently from
how I remembered the area. After a while it dawned on me: For him the
landscape was a backdrop for taking the most spectacular photos
possible. He just photographed what looked great and then he even
enhanced this aspect by using the best angle, lightning and applying
photoshop. But this is not how I see a hike. I don't usually see a
landscape in the most spectacular lightning – I just see it at the
time I am there. I don't see it photoshopped or color enhanced. And
most importantly: A hike is not just the spectacular scenery, it also
consists of less interesting or sometimes even boring or ugly parts.
For me a hike is an entity of various aspects – and that includes
the beautiful and the ugly ones. I then realised that I pursue a
totally different goal with my photos than most photographers. I want
to show how it is. I want to record and document. I want to give my
readers a realistic view of how the hike has been. If I had a 30 km
roadwalk, I take pictures of that road. If I pass dozens of
industrial estates – I show pictures of them. I don't want to
sugarcoat or cherry-pick. Most photographers are on a different
mission: They want to show the beautiful and spectacular stuff only –
in the most aesthetically pleasing way. There is nothing wrong with
it – but just keep in mind that although this last approach will give
you a lot dream pictures, it won't show the reality on the trail.

I don't want trophy photos: A hundred
years ago a man could go out, have an adventure and prove it by
showing trophies like tiger skins, grizzly bear teeth or antlers.
Things are not that easy any more: You are not allowed to shoot at
anything you like with your gun any more – but you can shoot it
with your camera. Outdoor photography has become modern time trophy
hunting including a similar bragging potential. I would go as far as
to say the the photos you bring back from a trip have become a sort
of status symbol. The better the quality the better the tour is
perceived. You can do the most amazing trip – but without
spectacular photos you won't receive much recognition for it. While
paddling the Yukon I once met a well known adventurer who thought
that his camera had just died. His first reaction was: „I will fly
home now. It is no use continuing the trip if I can't take
pictures....“. But why are trophies so important? Because you can
impress other people with them. And I really do have the impression
that some people go outdoors less for themselves but more to impress
other people – throught their photos. And that is not my goal. My photos are meant to be a trip documentation and not a trophy.

I don't want to support the outdoor
photo arms race: As I have pointed out above outdoor photography has
become sort of a status symbol. In order to „be better“ than
others you have have better photos. And there the photo arms race
starts. Outdoor people carry more, better, heavier and more expensive
equipment. In 2000 it was enought to take a digital camera and take
pictures, now you have to have a gopro helmet camera and to shoot
videos. With more and more good photographers around you have to
spend more and more time on photography to still impress people –
on trail when shooting as well as off trail when editing the stuff.
Another way to still make a difference is to choose more and more
extreme destinations. You can't impress people anymore with hiking
across your home country. Now it has to be pristine wilderness, high
alpine trips or wild animals. The dangerous downside of this
development is that people end up in condtions they are not prepared
for - just (or also) for the sake of taking a great picture. First time hikers
do solo wilderness trips and end up lost, injured or dead. People get
killed or injured by wild animals because they got too close to them.
(To name just one example: The first fatal grizzlybear attack in Alaska's Denali National Park occured to a tourist taking pictures too close.) I personally don't want to take part in that arms
race. After so many years living outdoors my priorities have changed.
I have extensively travelled in the world's most beautiful and
spectacular landscapes but the more I have seen it the less important
it has become. Scenery and landscape are just one important factor amongst many
others when chosing a trip destination and determining the „success“
of a trip – and my pictures reflect these other factors as well:
People I meet, lovely campsites, great food, the simple joys of
outdoor life.

Like thruhikers say „Hike your own
hike“ I want to finish this post with „Take your own pictures“.
There is no right or wrong in the „philosophy“ of outdoor
photography. But for me the way I take (or don't take) pictures is an
deliberate act based on my personal point of (thruhiker) view.

As usual the length of the trip is difficult to determine. The number given above represent the length according to the gpx tracks I have downloaded. In hindsight I must say that especially in Spain these tracks where often incorrect. The tracks had been rerouted. I had to take lots of detours, but also shortcuts. Some tracks were even completely wrong. Also gpx tracks tend to show a shorter mileage than the trail on the ground because they don't follow every switchback or trail corner. I guess the actual mileage was slightly higher, probably around 4.000 km.

The high amount of hotel stays in Spain is unusual for my hiking style but it reflects various reasons: Already in early December I had secured accommodation for my holiday stay in Germany. I was slowing down deliberately because I did not want to finish before I could move in there. Also the cold weather was taking its toll plus there was an unusual high amount of sightseeing stuff along the trail.

Medical consultations: 3
Rest days because of health reasons: 1
Pair of shoes used: 3
Number of blisters: 0

The wide temperature range shows how difficult it was to find the right equipment for this trip. I did not want to change gear during the trip due to logistical reasons and therefore had to carry winter gear the whole time - and to feel rather ridiculous with a winter quilt in summer temperatures.